2010 Thoughts

As 2009 draws to a close, my thoughts turn to the new year and all the adventures - both on trail and off - that I am sure 2010 will bring. I hope the year will include us sharing with Sam the things we enjoy most - taking her skiing on a warm and sunny spring day, putting her in the backpack and going for a hike as the season shifts to summer, exploring some of the trails in Acadia and Baxter with her, joining our friends on runs, and instilling in her a love of the outdoors and the beauty of this place we call home. I know too that the year will no doubt bring with it a fair share of challenges as we navigate our new roles as parents, as Sam grows and changes, as I return to work full-time and we send Sam to daycare in the spring, but such is life, and we will do the best we can with it all! I also hope, for myself, that 2010 will include getting back into shape and running some good races. So what will those races be? That is the question...

Here are a few races I am pondering:

1a. January 10 - Scarborough Frozen 5k. I have been trying to find a 5k around Gorham to run with my sister Kristen and niece Caitlin. This would be close to home for them and starts late in the day, which could be useful in early January! Assuming the weather isn't too horrible and they both still want to run, I will plan on running with them, and so won't be racing all out, which probably is a good thing, considering it is only a month away!

OR

1b. April 3 - Gorham Lions 5k. If the early January temps are too cold for Kristen and Caitlin, this is the other option close to home that I've found. Early April might be a bit less scary (and less chilly) of a time of the year for a few newbie road racers to run a race!

2. May 30 - Pineland Farms Trail Challenge. I will definitely be running at Pineland this year, but am not sure what distance. Ideally, I would love to run the 50k, but am not sure it is realistic this year. We'll see how the winter goes in terms of training. If I don't feel I can run the 50k and run it well, I will run the 25k as fast as I can and save the 50k for 2011 :-)

3. July, August and September - dates TBA - Bradbury Trail Running Series. I volunteered this past year at all the Bradbury races, and really enjoyed it. However, I hope to be able to actually race the series this year!

4. Fall race options - I definitely want to run a fall marathon, but am unsure what that marathon might be. Ryan is thinking that depending how his summer of racing goes he might run 1) MDI, 2) Maine Marathon, 3) Stonecat Trail Marathon, or 4) not run a marathon at all this fall, and I think it would be hard for me to watch him run any of the three and not run myself! So, really, I could be tempted by any of the first three options, and although I realize it might be logistically difficult for us to both be training for the same marathon now that we have Sam, I think we could pull it off if we really wanted to. Of course, this would mean we would need someone to take care of Sam while we're racing, but I am sure we could figure something out! Or perhaps we would run different races. Time will tell. Regardless... MDI is tempting because it is just such a cool race in a cool place. Maine is tempting, as I'd be curious to see how fast I could run that course, having run it back in 2006 in 3:55. Perhaps I could even run under 3:45 and qualify for Boston? I know I ran 3:44 at MDI in 2008, so I should be able to run under 3:45 on a flatter course, but I did just have a baby, so who knows what this year will bring training-wise! And of course, Stonecat is tempting because it's a trail marathon, many of our friends run it, and it just sounds like a cool race with a cool atmosphere. Only Maine would allow me to truly say I ran a marathon before my daughter turned 1 year old, but the others are close enough to fulfill my desire to run a good marathon in the year following Sam's birth. So, no decisions yet on the fall marathon front but lots of fun ideas to ponder!

And really what all of this means is that if I'm planning a 25k or 50k in May and a marathon in the fall, I'd better put a training plan together for the winter and get to it! :-)